Cooking the perfect steak is an art. Getting the temperature just right takes practice. I spent many years of my life as a vegetarian, and now that I am eating meat again, filet mignon is my favorite cut of beef. I aim for medium rare. I found this technique on floatingkitchen.net under the how to cook the perfect filet mignon heading, and she isn’t joking around; it is perfect. However, I did add the butter and an extra 4 minutes of cooking time in the pan.
Steak Ingredients:
- Filet mignon, approx. 2-inches thick
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Butter
- Fine Sea Salt
- 4 TBS dried peppercorns
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup cognac, brandy, or Marsala wine
- 1/2 cup cream
Directions:
Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and let them get to room temperature, approx. 20 minutes. Set the oven to 425F.
Coarsely grind 3 TBS of the peppercorns with a mortar, blender, food processor… whatever you have. Spread the coarsely ground peppercorns onto both sides of fillets before cooking.
Heat a large oven-proof sauté pan to medium-high heat (I use a cast iron). Add olive oil and heat it.
Add steaks and let cook undisturbed for 4 minutes. Flip and cook the other side for 4 minutes. Place 1 TBS butter on each filet and immediately transfer to the preheated oven. Cook for another 7 minutes, or until your desired doneness.
5 minutes=rare
6 minutes= medium-rare
7 minutes= medium
Transfer steaks to a plate and let rest for 5-10 minutes while tented with foil.
Add the cognac to a skillet and stir well over medium heat. Use the same skillet you cooked the fillets in so that all of those yummy juices are in the sauce. Add the cream and remaining TBS of peppercorns. Salt to taste. Let the sauce thicken slightly, then spoon over fillets.
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